Hot Spring boys ride hot streak into postseason
It’s always good to close the season on a roll, especially if you are heading into playoff territory.
The Hot Springs boys followed that axiom to the letter this past week with a trifecta of wins.
They opened their week last Tuesday with a co-vid cancelled make-up game against Noxon and handled them 69-38. Next up was Charlo, whom they dispatched 72-63 in a crucial Western 14C match for conference seeding. The Savage Heat concluded their busy week this past Saturday with a 78-50 thumping of the Two River Eagle Eagles.
Tuesday’s game in Noxon was part of a large scale reshuffling of Noxon’s schedule that had a domino affect on much of the conference.
When the two teams finally got to play on the Red Devils home court, they got off to a good start thanks to the nine first quarter points scored by Hot Springs senior guard Jack McAllister. At the end of the first quarter the Savage Heat were in front 17-10.
Hot Springs then got six points each from senior forward Kyle Lawson and junior post Garth Parker as they extended their lead to 39-20 at the half.
The second half was more of the same as Lawson scored half a dozen third quarter points and the Savage Heat found themselves with a 52-30 lead with one quarter to go.
Reserves played most the fourth quarter which saw the Savage Heat outscore Noxon 17-8 to wrap up the victory.
Lawson led all scorers with 17 points, while teammates McAllister and Quincy Styles-DePoe chipped in 16 and 14 points respectively.
Next up for Hot Springs was the conference clash with Charlo in what became a battle for second place. The Savage Heat came into the game with a 5-3 Western 14C record, while Charlo started the game 6-2.
At stake was a shot at second place and the number two seed in the upcoming District tourney. St. Regis clinched the top seed with a 10-0 record last week.
Against the Vikings, Hot Springs came out ready for a dog fight and they got what they were expecting. The Savage Heat managed to take a 17-15 lead at the end of the first quarter behind a quartet of players who would end up scoring in double figures for the game, led by McAllister.
After a tough, scrappy second quarter battle, Hot Springs had managed to build a narrow38-32 lead heading into the intermission.
Charlo, which got a game-high 30 points from Keaton Piedalue, outscored their guests by five points, 13-8, in the third period to erase the deficit and take a razor thin 45-44 lead with eight minutes to play.
The Heat turned up the fire and rallied to a 26-18 fourth quarter advantage as they pulled out the win and improved their conference record to 6-3, identical to the mark posted by Charlo.
McAllister led Hot Springs with 22 points and got double figure scoring help from Parker, who had 17 points, Lawson with 13 and 10 from junior forward Nathan Lawhead.
The win boosted the Heat to 9-4 overall this season, while Charlo fell to 9-7.
Hot Springs closed out their busy week Saturday with a visit to Two Eagle River in Pablo and wrapped it up in style with a 28-point win over the Eagles.
The Savage Heat bolted to a 23-13 first quarter lead thanks in large part to 12 points from Parker, who helped the Heat control the boards on both ends of the court. Parker added another eight points to his tally in the second quarter as Hot Springs opened a 43-23 halftime lead.
Parker added another five points in the third stanza on his way to a game-high and season-best 31 points for the game. Also scoring in double figures for the Heat were Lawhead with 15 and McAllister with 14.
Nate Gates tossed in 17 points to lead Two Eagle River.
The win improved Hot Springs overall record to 10-4. Next up for the Savage Heat is another trio of games, beginning tonight (Tuesday, Feb 8) at home against Plains. They will then host Drummond Friday night before traveling to Seeley for a game with the Blackhawks. All three of those games are non-conference.